Rugged camera for kids

[tecboy]

If she reads and understands the manual, then she is good to go with a dslr.

 

[Kendall9991]

An extended zoom p&s like the coolpix l110. I loved mine

 

[Patrice]

I let my daughter stat using our old D70 when she was 10. Taught her how to hold it and how to operate it. Made her understand that the thing was not a tonka toy and had to be handled appropriately and to always put the strap around her neck. She has never ever dropped it or banged it against anything. At 13 she now has unlimited access to all my gear. You'd be surprised just how careful a young person can be when they are allowed to play with the adult stuff.

 

[Solarflare]

My tipp for that would be one of those underwater compacts, or the Nikon 1 AW 1 with the corresponding lens 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 (approx 30-75mm full frame equivalent). They are the most robust cameras you can buy right now.

Remember though that lenses are made of GLAS. So yeah, theres usually a limit to what kind of beating they can take. Though there are especially robust variants of glas such as Gorilla glas, I am not aware anyone uses these kinds of glas to produce unkillable lenses.

 

[Civchic]

I bought my son a Fuji underwater/shockproof camera. It's pretty great. He's 5, though, and can't even hold up a DSLR comfortably. If he still enjoys it at 10 I'd think about getting him his own entry-level second hand body and lens.

 

[unpopular]

^^ yep, my son is using an olympus one we had but didn't like. He's five, and kind of an immature five year old at that. He really has no sense of "being careful" with anything.

Yogurt hands? No problem. Just run it under the sink and we're back to a zillion photos of storm drains, street lights and his blurry thumb.